DANY TURCOTTE, L’URGENCE DE VIVRE

Geneviève Tremblay 2019 Canada 45min French
Synopsis:
Long before he was the “fou du roi” of the massively popular Radio-Canada show Tout le monde en parle, doling humorous reactions to up-to-the-minute discussions, Dany Turcotte was a hard-working CEGEP student honing his improvisational skills with other talented comedians. It is with a handful of these fellow students – notably, Dominique Lévesque, Marie-Lise Pilote, and Émile Gaudreault – that Turcotte would go on to form “le Groupe sanguin” in 1984, creating such indelible, adored characters as the mystical and extremely “relaxed” hippie of indeterminate sex, Dany Verveine. With his usual jocularity and forthrightness, Turcotte opens up about these and many more experiences from his prolific career, from his hit shows at legendary Montreal venues like Club Soda and Spectrum to his current fame as a TV staple and spokesperson for Gai Écoute, which he adds to a long list of other charitable causes. A role model since he came out of the closet in 2004 with the hope of de-dramatizing societal impressions of homosexuality, Dany Turcotte reveals how one can embody success, professionalism, and deep humanity while staying true to one’s authentic self.